Piano Sonata No. 2 (Shostakovich)

Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor Op. 61 was composed in 1943 in Samara, where he had been evacuated due to the Siege of Leningrad, and was premiered by Shostakovich himself on June 6, soon after moving to Moscow. It was his first piano composition since the 1933 Preludes Op. 34.

Dedicated to his former teacher Leonid Nikolayev, it consists of three movements with the following markings:

Allegretto
Largo
Moderato

Shostakovich has two piano sonatas left (three now including the piano sonatas of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, which seems to have been destroyed and lost). No. 2 was written between Symphony Nos. 7 and 8. The composition began in January 1943, when Shostakovich was evacuated to Kuybyshev (now Samara) to avoid the war, and many parts were apparently composed in the city (it was incomplete at the same time). It was completed on March 17 of the same year at the sanatorium in Arkhangelskoye, near Moscow. The premiere was performed in Moscow on June 6, the same year, with the composer's own piano. As Shostakovich's teacher of piano at Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Leonid Nikolayev, had died the previous year on 11 October, the sonata was dedicated to his memory.

Originally, it was planned to be composed of four movements, but Shostakovich had a hard time composing this piece. For example, the composition was changed to three movements. It seems that there are traces of many deletions and corrections in the autograph. The reputation after the premiere was low and unpopular, and Shostakovich denied the work as "dust-like work" or "improvisation." His Piano Sonata No. 1 from 1926 experienced the same kind of treatment. This suggested that this area was unsuitable for Shostakovich.

His second sonata was performed more often than the first. There are a number of recordings including one by the famous pianist Emil Gilels.

References

François-René Tranchefort and al., Guide de la Musique de Piano et de Clavecin. André Lischke, 'Dimitri Chostakovitch' pp. 250–251.

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